A fun and informative read, the perfect blend of education and entertainment. A must read for anyone interested in a fresh slice of queer history.

This is lovely. And brilliantly informative. Interesting to read about the life of the author, but the history of it all was what really kept me gripped. Definitely one for those who love reading, and love a bit of history.

I always enjoy Paul Baker’s books, this is my third of his to read, and I adore how he mixes his personal experience with cultural events and eras. A great read and extremely interesting, I look forward to what he writes about next.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this advanced copy.

I enjoyed being able to have the opportunity to see a new insight into the culture and history of Camp.

I loved reading this book. It was the perfect blend of education and entertainment. Baker writes with such passion, enthusiasm and joy – his excitement is infectious and made every chapter more engaging than the last. Which is not to say that he doesn’t treat camp seriously or approach it with academic rigour – he tells stories, adds context, provides insight and analysis, and comes across as a knowledgeable and trustworthy guide. He makes a subject that can be difficult to define easier to approach without over-simplifying any of camp’s nuance or contradictions. He revels in pop culture, and this book feels like a treasure chest of witty anecdotes and snippets of gossip, but is also full of examples of the social and political power of camp. An incredible reading experience, and a book I cannot recommend enough.

While much of this is back to basics with those of us highly familiar with the culture of camp, it's written about in such an entertaining way here. I particularly enjoyed how it details the whole history. Not just starting with Sontag's Notes on Camp, it goes right because to royalty and camp throughout history. And on the other side, right up to Drag Race and soap operas more recently. It's a history, an observation of change, a library of recommendations. Throroughly enjoyed.

‘Oh I say!’ This is a history of camp from its probable beginnings in 17th or 18th century France and then up to the present day where you might think that camp is now so ubiquitous that it’s almost mainstream. Not so as it still manages to be subversive in its own little way. And with chapter headings such as ‘Your Actual French’ and ‘Clenched fists and limp wrists’, the author displays camp’s playfulness.
I was exposed to Camp at a young and impressionable age with the radio comedy series ‘Round the Horne’ and the high jinks of Julian and Sandy. They used the camp language of Polari to good effect. We knew vaguely what it meant but it was being heard on a mainstream radio show and the BBC no less!
The book begins with the author, Paul Baker, discussing his introduction to camp which came in 1981 during PE when he and fellow outcast were never picked for any teams. He remembers his father having a camp side when he wept at the film ‘Pollyanna’. My dad was keen on John Waters films especially those featuring Divine before‘Hairspray’. (I never thought that Divine looked entirely convincing as a man I have to say) and 1980s Goths. At college in the 1980’s I was reviled for liking Marc Almond which was the same as being reviled for liking David Bowie in the 1970’s. ‘You know what ‘John I’m only Dancing’ is about don’t you?’ an earnest schoolfriend whispered to me one day. I have never seen anyone look as outre and glamorous as David Bowie on the 1975 Russell Harty Show where he performed ‘Drive in Saturday.’ The author also states his own definition of camp and how it manifests itself in popular culture. He features Christopher Isherwood’s novels, the ‘ingredients of camp’, popular media including Hollywood films and soap operas like ‘Dynasty’. But beneath the glam and bitching there was also the serious events such as the Stonewall riots in New York.
Camp surprisingly has links to slavery as, although I knew about ‘vogueing’ I didn’t know that it originated from black slaves in America’s south whose ‘cakewalk’ dances
‘ridiculed their plantation owners and eventually led to the House of Swann which was one of the first drag families.’
The book then travels through the
‘late 17th and early 18th century when there is written evidence of the term camp to mean flamboyance being used in French theatre’
according to Susan Sontag. The writers Nancy Mitford and Agatha Christie are mentioned, Hollywood and ‘Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?’, the fallen TV cook, Fanny Craddock, Joe Orton and Kenneth Halliwell and the aforementioned Stonewall Riots. This was where the gay community fought back and changed society forever. Although the drag queen Lily Savage’s quips at a police raid at a UK gay venue in Central London when they arrived wearing rubber gloves so that they wouldn’t have to touch anyone during the AIDs era would indicate that nothing had changed. I loved Lily Savage and Divine they seemed so down to earth.
And finally, the debacle of ‘Showgirls’ which
‘flopped spectacularly as audiences and critics simply could not or would not celebrate it as unintended camp’
But, although camp now seems ubiquitous but has it been
‘Co-opted by darker forces in order to distract us from political and economic realities, or simply to get us to buy stuff?’
After reviewing several crime thrillers it was a pleasure to dive into something a little less blood curdling and entertaining.
My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an ARC.

Entertaining, informative and full of food for thought. A must-read book in a historical moment when camp is seen as socially dangerous.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Camp!: The Story of the Attitude that Conquered the World by Paul Baker is a book – by the author of Fabulosa: The Story of Polari, Britain’s Secret Gay Language and Outrageous!: The Story of Section 28 and Britain’s Battle for LGBT Education – which explores the popular culture phenomenon of camp.

A re-appraisal and re-examination of camp, which traverses across history, Paul Baker’s writing spans from the high-camp excesses of Versailles through the 1960s with ‘Hag films’ featuring women, like Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, who have become life-long queer icons, all the way to the twenty-first century with the rise of RuPaul’s Drag Race, and the supposed ‘death of camp’.

As it journeys through the ages, this book showcases camp’s many roles from humour to protest, from sheer hedonism to offering refuge to the LGBTQ+ people. As such, the writing also often draws parallels with various milestones in LGBTQ+ history including; The Stonewall Riots, Section 28, and the HIV/AIDS pandemic cementing camp’s place in queer culture.

Camp! explores films, TV, music, art, fashion, historical moments, and figures with a colourful plethora of examples, allowing every reader to identify at least one if not many more incidents of camp that they identify with personally. It also delves into the difficulties of defining what camp truly is, drawing on other writings to pick apart the nuances of camp and campy, high camp, intentional camp, and unintentional camp.

“A camp attitude will help us redefine what it means to win. It will bring splashes of colour to the most boring day and let you endow others with the priceless gift of laughter. So camp it up while you can, darlings, it’ll make your stay here much more fun.”

As with Baker’s other books, the writing is not overly academic, and therefore accessible, and it offers, throughout, some of the author’s own experiences with camp. Camp! shines with warmth and its own camp sensibility as Baker traces camp from the fringes and underground spaces to mainstream culture. The book closes with some predictions from Paul Baker on the possible future of camp, but most importantly, it urges readers to embrace camp in the world, in others, and in yourself.

As someone who has enjoyed Paul Baker's other books, this absolutely does not disappoint, and in many ways builds on some of the key themes and moments from his other books (Polari, Section 28 and more).

Although 'camp' can be quite a slippery concept, Baker delves into the many ways that it has shown up for pure enjoyment and for activism. The end portion of this book really delivers that punch, identifying the importance of camp as resistance, and I found this profound, especially from a British context.

I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

*eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

i really like paul baker's popular non-fiction writing style in Fabulosa!, mixing personal anecdote with accessible cultural analysis, and this was another great example. despite the challenges in defining what 'camp' is, the author deftly analyses its development from Versailles to modern cornerstones of pop culture, and its role in (queer) resistance movements. as a young queer person, i also found this book really helpful in understanding why certain actresses and musicians became icons for the gay male community and the LGBTQ+ community at large. i finished the book with a much greater appreciation for the camp icons throughout the ages and inspired to use it as a tool in approaching the difficulties of the world.

Absolutely fascinating!
I’d already read Baker’s book Fabulosity and loved it, so had to pick this one up too.
Baker manages to write history with such an engaging and humorous style. So interesting to get more insight into queer history and the culture of camp.
Thoroughly recommend!!

Paul Baker writes fantastic books - delving deep into queer culture and exploring origins, milestones and memorable moments in a brilliantly written style.
'Camp' is just another example - and perhaps his best yet. Wide ranging and hugely incisive - I recommend

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

An exploration of Camp throughout history, its impact on mainstream culture, its origins, and beyond. This started with a bang. It was so informative, so interesting and full of tidbits that I found myself discussing with people immediately.

Unfortunately, as we move forward in time, I think this drops off a little in pacing. Or perhaps it’s just that more of it was fresh in my memory, so it seemed less “new”. Who knows? Thoroughly enjoyed the endless pop culture references (although, play a drinking game and take a shot every time RuPaul is mentioned. Even when he’s not directly relevant)

Overall, I’d definitely recommend to people interested in the subject.

Baker’s Camp! is an insightful and informative history of queer and Black culture. Camp has captured the cultural imagination for at least 150 years and Baker explores this across history and the changing ways it has been understood. He traces this history from Louis XIV to Oscar Wilde to Madonna and Britney Spears etc. This book dives into the phenomenon of Camp by showing what a powerful movement it is.

This book was will written, insightful and I thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish. I appreciated the effort to look at black culture and camp

I have ‘Fabulosa! The Story of Polari, Britain’s Secret Gay Language’ by Paul Baker on my ‘to read’ list. So I was, er, tickled pink when I managed to bag a Netgalley arc of ‘Camp! The Story of the Attitude that Conquered the World’ (yes, Baker does like long book titles with exclamation marks!)

Baker is a Professor of English Language at Lancaster University, so I was unsure what to expect going into this. Instead of a stuffy academic overview, this is a delightful, whimsical, informative, and quite frankly inspiring headlong rush through a swathe of gay history and culture.

Yes, Baker does engage with the seminal ‘Notes on Camp’ by Susan Sontag (1964), to which this seems like a companion piece. With a liberal dash of ‘GuRu’ by Rupaul thrown into the mix. Having finished the book, I still have no idea what camp actually is (you know it when you see it, apparently.)

Though any author who offers a serious discussion of ‘camp’ in the (dizzying) context of Liberace and Trump deserves extra sprinkles of glitter. Probably my favourite section is the account of the shenanigans of Louis XIV. If there is any nation who can camp it up like no tomorrow, it is the French. From Noel Coward to Judy Garland, Madonna, telenovelas and drag … it is all here, and a lot of surprising facts and titbits that I certainly did not know.

There is a lot of right-wing tension globally, with the US determined to make Margaret Atwood a lived reality rather than a (literary) dystopian nightmare. What I loved about ‘Camp!’ is that it makes me proud to be gay, and proud of my culture and the shoulders of all those wonderful people we’ve stood on to get whe

I’m always looking to devour more history of queer and black culture that I feel gets overlooked in the mainstream, and this loving history of camp — it’s aesthetics and politics — was perfect!